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Fisheries Partnership Agreement

The current Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and Morocco entered into force on 28 February 2007 for a period of four years. It has been tacitly renewed twice. On 24 July 2018, the parties initialed a new Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement which will enter into force and replace the current agreement once the legislative procedures for this purpose are finalised. Similarly, a new Protocol should be applied which will replace the previous one, which expired on 14 July 2018.

37 million €/year (1st year); 38 million €/year (2nd year); 42,4 million €/year (3rd and 4th year), of which, respectively, 17,9 million €, 18,8 million € and 20,5 million € earmarked for the support of Moroccan sectoral fisheries policy in order to promote sustainability in its waters and ocean governance. In addition, the fleet is expected to contribute for about 11 to 12 million €.

History

The first fisheries agreement concluded between the EU and Morocco dates back to 1995. At that time, it was by far the most important fisheries agreement between the EU and a third country. However, the parties did not reach an agreement to renew the protocol in 1999 and there was no agreement until the current Fisheries Partnership Agreement came into force in February 2007.

The first Protocol to current Fisheries Partnership Agreement ran until 27 February 2011 and provided for a financial contribution of 36.1 million € out of which 13.5 million € was dedicated to the support of the fisheries policy of Morocco. Vessels from 11 EU Member States could obtain fishing authorisations from Morocco under the Agreement and this Protocol.

A second Protocol, extending its predecessor by one year under essentially the same terms, was negotiated in February 2011 and provisionally applied until December 2011, when the European Parliament decided not to consent to its conclusion.

The most recent Protocol under this FPA lasted from 15 July 2014 until 14 July 2018.